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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

U.S. Caravan for Peace Reaches Washington

The Caravan for Peace arrived in Washington, the last stop on its tour of the
United States, during which families of the victims of violence on both sides of
the U.S.-Mexico border have marked “an end and a beginning” with their
condemnation of the war on drugs.

After traveling more than 10,000
kilometers (6,000 miles) and stopping in 26 cities, the 110 participants in the
caravan led by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia arrived in the United States
capital.

“This is an end and a beginning,” Sicilia said at an event
organized by the AFL-CIO to welcome the caravan to Washington.

“We come
from afar bringing to the heart of this country all the horror of this useless,
lost war,” said Sicilia, who in March 2011 lost his son Juan Francisco to the
violence of organized crime.

Conflict among rival cartels and between the
traffickers and the security forces has claimed some 60,000 lives in Mexico
since December 2006, when newly inaugurated President Felipe Calderon – whose
term ends Nov. 30 – militarized the struggle against the drug
trade.

Against the “absurd” policy of the war on drugs, the Caravan for
Peace called for an approach based on legalizing drugs, enforcing gun control
and prosecuting money laundering.

“Drugs are not a matter of national
security, but of public health,” Sicilia told Efe, recalling that the violence
sparked by the illegal trafficking of narcotics “has killed more innocent people
than drugs could ever have killed over decades and centuries.”

One of the
activists accompanying him is Teresa Vera Alvarado, whose sister Minerva went
missing in 2006 in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. After years of
fruitless searching, Vera joined the caravan “to help all the other people who
are mourning a loss.”

“We come to raise authorities’ awareness in both
countries so they do their job, because very often they make fun of us, they say
they’re investigating the matter and they’re not,” Vera told Efe.

The
caravanners continued to spread their message on a march from the White House to
Freedom Plaza in Washington, and were to continue Tuesday with meetings in 27
offices of Congress and with Mexican ambassador Arturo
Sarukhan.

Throughout their journey around the United States, their
message has taken on elements of the immigration problem, since the war on drugs
has led to “criminalizing immigrants,” Sicilia said.

The war on drugs “is
opening the way to authoritarian states,” the poet-turned-crusader said in an
interview with Efe.

With his trek from Tijuana to Washington, Sicilia
believes he has started an “unprecedented process” that both citizens of Mexico
and the United States share, the realization that “declaring war on drugs in
absurd.”

“Every day we’re on the point of losing our democracy. We’re not
only losing our children, which is the most tragic part of it, but we’re opening
the way to authoritarian states with this absurd logic. This war has killed more
innocent people than drugs could ever have killed over decades and centuries,”
he said.

30 comments:

I don't agree that drugs should be legalized. I don't want to run into the back of a stoned driver who is stopped at a green light. I don't want a stoner building my car either. I do think that Don Sicilia has a good point about that insane logics of a police state dewing ever closer. I think that the war on drugs is a good idea but it may not be carried out as if to win or to reduce violence. Intricate investigations are prolonged and even assisted while people and families are being adversely affected. In the end the prosecutors bargain for a plea deal so that they can be home early on Friday..

Wether you like it or not theirs already pot heads in the street and cooking your food and building your house Your roads just about everything. People already smoke it like its legal. Your idea of a pothead is wrong. Smokin cannabis dose not impair you. Alcohol does. Legalizing is the answer. End prohibition. Anyone who disagrees is closed minded and has no idea wuz up with earth

although i can appreciate this mans loss i refute his assumptions that he likes to throw around as fact. first he says 60,000 lives lost. just using official numbers the count is above 150,000 lives lost. our beloved chivis puts the number closer to 300,000 lives lost.second leagalizing drugs will not stop these criminals from being criminals.third stopping the weapons that do come from the USA will not stop cartels from getting weapons.fourth drugs are both a criminal issue and a health issue. if legalized people will still " Man, possibly high on fake pot choked, cut his mom's throat, deputies say " Business: Location: SearchAuto Dealers Auto Repair Bar Carpet Cleaning Child Care Chocolate Coffee Dentist Doctor Florists Furniture Golf Course Gym Hair Salon Hotels Insurance Jewelry Landscaping Locksmith Movers Pizza Plumbing Realtor Remodeling Storage Browse all »

by MojoPagesNewsScreaming Schertz mom slit daughter's throat, police say " "AP) CRESCENT CITY, Calif. - A Northern California mixed-martial artist accused of ripping out his friend's heart and removing his tongue while the two were on hallucinogenic drugs has pleaded guilty to murder and mayhem charges."i could go on hour after hour listing every atrocity committed while intoxicated so i will just close by saying legalizing is way out ofrealm of the "answer"I hope you find peace Javier Sicilia but not at the cost of my safety or my constitution.

Mr. Sicilia only became motivated to protest and draw attention to the "drug war," in Messico, when his son was whacked! If his son were alive...you would not have heard peep from this poet! Just like him preaching about the legalization of drugs...what happens when people start dying from abuse and overdose, from these "now legal" substances? Also, does he really believe these psychopaths sicarios will change their ways, if drugs were a legal business? C'mon if your job has been to murder/torture/ and dismember people there's no turning back...you can not become a decent normal 9-5 working individual! This guy is trying to make a difference but you can't combat evil with words because your target audience (sicarios) are interested in "right or wrong"...only money!

New legal substance hahaha its cannabis its been the same a thousand years ago it will be the same plant for the years to come. Theirs no overdose EVER! And when the black market is over yes one dose somethin else a New economy will be open. You judge when you are not the one walkin in those shoes

"DECLARING WAR ON DRUGS IS ABSURD.." HE STATES. HE CAN MARCH AND POINT FINGERS BUT THAT **WILL NOT** BRING HIS SON BACK. IF YOU WANT A BUNCH OF STONERS OR COKED UP IDIOTS RUNNING AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD GO FOR IT. BUT NOT HERE!

Jorge Miguel Aldana Ibarra, a man who is currently wanted by the DEA for his alleged participation in the torture and murder of Kiki Camarena is a free man in Mexico. Aldana Ibarra was linked to the crime. was he with you demonstrating in washington dc THIS KILLER SHOULD BE ARRESTED ON THE SPOT PERIOD. USA PUT POLITICS ON SIDE AND ARREST THIS MURDERER

"“Drugs are not a matter of national security, but of public health,” Sicilia told Efe, recalling that the violence sparked by the illegal trafficking of narcotics “has killed more innocent people than drugs could ever have killed over decades and centuries.” SO DOES SMOKING...EVERY PIC I SEE OF THIS GUY, HE'S LOADED WITH CIGS

People in the US are running around on drugs too... But here is different people cry about back pain, neck pain or some other kind of pain to get pills... Then they turn around and sale them... Pain Pills are real popular in the US... People the US has a bigger drug problem than ANY country

What people do with their lives is theyre problem folks are getting high and will continue to get high wether drugs are legal or not more people die from drunk driving than drug overdose yet it is perfectly legal to buy the drug called alcohol where I live there is a lot more liquor stores than libraries and even more pot dispensaries legalizing drugs will at least keep some of our at-risk youth from ending up in handcuffs and allow us the chance of repenting for our wrong doings instead of being on life-time state supervision where the slightest police interaction can cost us years of our lives

Lots of trolls on here or what? People say, they don't want drugs legalized or there were would be potheads and coke addicts roaming around or driving the streets. WTF do you think they are doing now? How is having drugs illegal going to prevent anyone from using drugs?

if you want to get rid of the drug war in Mexico, from the US you need to start snitching out drug dealers and users. if thousands of us throughout the US do this it will put thousands behind bars and eventually cartels will lose there conections in the US cuz these street hustlers never tell anyone who they get there stuff from. trust me it works. its hard for coke heads to find cocaine out here in california because of this. and theyre busting marijuana growers left n right. the only problem is meth. but Mexico just needs to invade its own country. town by town city by city and stay battling to clean up the streets and show the next idiots that they wont show mercy.

Aldana Ibarra has been quite busy since becoming a free man. He has started his own law firm called Corporativo J.M. Aldana I & Asociados. It represents many people connected with organized crime. He also purchased the newspaper Excelsior which reportedly cost 150 million dollars to acquire.

As if to add insult to injury, Aldana Ibarra started a NGO named Confederación Nacional de Seguridad y Justicia (CONASEJU), or National Confederation of Security and Justice of Mexico. This organization has held several marches with the association of famed poet Javier Sicily. Aldana Ibarra has also held many talks with government officials regarding the strategies of Garcia Luna and Calderon. This is quite striking considering he is wanted in the US for murder and kidnapping.

And for those who may think Aldana Ibarra has changed his life for the better, he was recently involved in a violent incident in 2011 while at a strip club. Armed men burst through the front door assaulting many patrons. He and his son were both injured and the culprits were arrested.

The DEA has been notified of his home address, personal telephone numbers as well as the vehicles he drives, their license plates numbers and the names of his security team. There is even information on the guns they use, which are illegal I might add.

The DEA upon being notified of this information responded to this new information saying, “He is untouchable for reasons which cannot be discussed.” They would not elaborate further on this.

What chance is there for Mexico when people like Aldana Ibarra are allowed to not only walk free, but to play the role of savior and defender of innocents? We cannot verify why law enforcement are unable to act on the information presented. It is clear however from the information we have received that there is great reluctance on the part of the DEA to pursue the information further

as if to add insult to injury, Aldana Ibarra started a NGO named Confederación Nacional de Seguridad y Justicia (CONASEJU), or National Confederation of Security and Justice of Mexico. This organization has held several marches with the association of famed poet Javier Sicily. Aldana Ibarra has also held many talks with government officials regarding the strategies of Garcia Luna and Calderon. This is quite striking considering he is wanted in the US for murder and kidnapping. The DEA has been notified of his home address, personal telephone numbers as well as the vehicles he drives, their license plates numbers and the names of his security team. There is even information on the guns they use, which are illegal I might add.

The DEA upon being notified of this information responded to this new information saying, “He is untouchable for reasons which cannot be discussed.” They would not elaborate further on this.

What chance is there for Mexico when people like Aldana Ibarra are allowed to not only walk free, but to play the role of savior and defender of innocents? We cannot verify why law enforcement are unable to act on the information presented. It is clear however from the information we have received that there is great reluctance on the part of the DEA to pursue the information further

This guy does not understand pure evil. These posters are right. Once they have been to murdering/kidnapping and dismembering people they can't go back.

Sicilia doesn't understand that half the world wants peace, the other half wants to kill, steal and destroy. Some of us that want peace must be strong and armed to protect those stupid sheeple like Sicilia that want pie in the sky dreams that will never come true without peace through strength.

Why isn't they r a story about the zeta asking kt for a truce against Sinaloa in mantas in Guerrero oh that right cuz the only one that actually was on her toes was chivis and she aint here cuz of Chivo in my opinion peace loks Ps you other reporters do a great job nada contra ustedes pero contra el ya sabe la situacion ustedes y que tengo razon

I feel bad for his loss, but just another liberal with an ass backwards point of view. Go home and stop smoking and polluting my country....Also while your here, stop off at the local Walmart and buy yourself a Gilette fusion 5 blade and get a shave. You would be more effective if you did not appear to be a wash up tree hugger from the 60's.

On a serious note, while I agree there are some valid arguments for legalizing or at lease decriminalizing pot, if this liberal thinks the poor coke heads in Mexico wont continue to extort, kidnap and terrorize Mexico, he's truly a moron.